Sumner of the Ozarks

Hey hey errbuddy,

I’ve got about sixty pictures (selected from a couple thousand taken) here and I’ve organized them a little bit to make it easier for everyone, so here are the links:

Everything up to and including the reception

After Lakeshore (some great pictures of people swimming in the bay)

Baby Mavis

Greig family pictures taken in the church (taken by PT)

I’m available for weddings, events, etc. My rate is $8,000 per day 😉

What a wonderful weekend! Lexy and Tony are the best!

With love for everyone from the heart of the Ozark Mountains,

Sumner of East Wind

 

 

Hey all,

Sorry for the lack of content here, but I have been quite busy. Things are going well. Bees are happening, we have three hives. Small hive beetles have arisen as an issue and I hope it doesn’t become anything serious. I have been putting time in East Wind’s blog. You can read about some cool stuff there and see the pictures I’ve been taking. I’ve gotten into photography big time lately and it is a lot of fun. Excited for Lexy’s wedding in less than a month, see many of you soon!

 

Hey everyone,

Things are going well. My full member vote is coming up in January. If I am accepted I will have full voting rights and full health coverage from East Wind. I expect a good outcome.

I am staying at East Wind for the entire month of December which I am excited about. About thirty of us are participating in ‘Artmas’ for the Solstice holiday party. We all drew names out of a hat and we create a gift for the person. I recently bought a dremel and I’m planning on experimenting with some woodcuts for the gift. Trying for a butterfly… let’s see how it goes!

Garden has basically wound down for the year. Tool maintenance and repair projects are on my mind for winter. Still maintaining the fleet of hand carts here. Learned a lot about ball bearings, axles, and metalworking. I have some great cart designs in mind and I may make another cart, but for the time being it is a lot more labor and money efficient to simply salvage from existing carts and keep the older carts up.

Planning on bees this year, still haven’t found a great source for them. I will be trying swarm boxes and probably package bees. Hopefully I can find a local who will sell me a ‘nuc’ (consists of frames with bees already on them, it is the easiest way to start). Will be figuring all that out this weekend. Michael Bush beekeeping book and his forum have been invaluable and I intend to pull a lot from his wisdom.

East Wind Nut Butters is doing great this year and I hope to keep growing the business as the General Manager and Sales Manager. I really enjoy learning about agriculture, metalworking, woodworking, and design, but the majority of my energy lately has gone into learning the nut butter industry and I’ve come a long way in my understanding.

Petey is going home to Michigan for Christmas and while I’d like to go I find myself drawn to being here to help out with taking care of the dairy cows. I’m still milking three times a week. May be milking about six times a week once most of the farm is on vacation.

I bought a camera and have been taking pictures for the East Wind blog. I hope to get some better content on there (and on here eventually).

Hope all is well with everyone. Happy birthday Alexa! Happy birthday one day early, Sai!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays and such! =)

Hi everyone,

Just thought I would post some pictures from our roadtrip up north. I have yet to receive the wedding photos, but those should be up here eventually! I really enjoyed meeting Petey’s family and had a fantastic time in Ann Arbor and Traverse City.

I’ve been quite busy with the business lately and hope to see some changes for the better by the end of this winter.

You can see my latest post on the East Wind garden here.

Here are some pictures from our four day camping trip on North Manitou Island in Lake Michigan. Love you all!

Punching this out on a cellphone, so I’ll be brief. Petey and I are on a road trip for about three weeks. Most of the time is being spent in Michigan.

 

My expat cousin Sarah just got married in Detroit. I’ve been looking forward to the event since I heard about it. The ceremony was beautifully simple and heartfelt. Seeing family members who I’ve been out of touch with for a while was a lot of fun and it is good to know everyone is doing well. Petey was quite possibly in the most formal ware I’ll ever observe (and he looked great).  Our mother’s absence was impossible not to notice. She was always engaged in a lively conversation. Her energy is irreplaceable.

Petey and I are in Ann Arbor, his hometown, visiting his sister and seeing old friends. We are going to Chicago and then Manitou Island for a three day camping trip and then Petey’s family reunion in Traverse City.

I’ll have to get into a mood to take pictures at some point! I’ll hopefully get some posted in a couple weeks. My best goes out to everyone. Congrats Sarah and Nils!

 

 

Here are some pictures of the garden from today: